Dutch Cities Picked For Seed To Sale Supply Experiment

Under Dutch law, cannabis can be sold over the counter in licensed coffee shops, but it is currently illegal to produce and supply the drug.

From 2021, cafes in 10 cities will get a legal supply of “quality” cannabis as part of a four-year experiment.

Cafe owners who provide over-the-counter cannabis have long relied on the illegal market for their supply, and industry insiders have accused the government of facilitating a nonsensical backdoor culture.

The “weed trials” are aimed at providing a controlled and legalised supply of cannabis, making the industry more transparent and testing whether that will free up police officers to focus on other crimes.

The cities chosen, and still to be approved, are: Arnhem, Almere, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Tilburg and Zaanstad.